Baby Pacman Frog Care & Feeding Guide For New Owners

Are you planning to keep a baby Pacman frog as a pet? Or, have you already had such one in your home? Then, you must ensure their best care to keep them safe and sound. But, as a new owner, people usually do not know the feeding guide and other guidelines for baby Pacman frog care.

Hence, I’ve conducted some researches to know the details of the care and feeding guide of baby Pacman frog.

In this article, you’ll get to know about baby Pacman frog habitat set-up, their diet, feeding guide, other necessary conditions also. So, you’ve come to the exact place.

Let’s explore this article, without any further ado.

Habitat Setup Guidelines For Baby Pacman Frog

Not to mention, the very first thing you need for your baby Pacman frog is a perfect enclosure or habitat. For setting up a baby Pacman frog habitat, let’s see the list of necessary items at first.

• Terrarium (minimum 10 gallons)
• Substrate
• Heating mat
• Thermometer
• Hygrometer
• Misting system
• Glass lid / Screen lid
• Decorations
• Plants
• A shallow water bowl (optional)

Proper Terrarium Setup For Pacman Frogs

As your Pacman frog is still a baby, you can choose a small plastic container or enclosure for your baby frog’s habitat. But, remember that it is just for a short period. You need to move the baby Pacman frog to a terrarium soon.

The perfect size of a terrarium for a baby Pacman frog is between 10-20 gallons if you want to keep the terrarium permanently. Otherwise, a baby Pacman frog can do well in a 5-gallon tank too.

When you go to buy a baby Pacman frog, you may notice that they are all around the size of a quarter. The seller usually sells the captive-bred baby Pacman frog in this size.

On the other hand, the adult Pacman frogs are around 3-8 inches in length and width. Also, the growth of Pacman frogs is really fast.

So, choose such a terrarium where the baby frog can get fit into adulthood too. For a permanent habitat, 10-20 gallon size of a terrarium is suitable.

Again, don’t forget that you need to put your baby Pacman frog alone. Because the Pacman frogs are very aggressive and cannibalistic. They tend to swallow everything that fits in their mouth, even their species. Hence, you should keep only one baby Pacman frog in a terrarium.

An important note is that the floor space of the terrarium should be wider. You need not concern about the height of the terrarium because Pacman frogs do not usually climb. A baby Pacman frog is also not an exception.

If you are a beginner, I’ll highly recommend the Zilla Terrarium Starter Kit. This kit comes with almost everything you’ll need for your pacman frog. It also saves a lot of hassle and money.

Ideal Substrate For Pacman Frogs

Many frog keepers prioritize pet Pacman frogs desiring to see them burrow in the substrate. Along with adult Pacman frogs, the baby Pacman frogs also tend to burrow often. To let them enjoy their burrow, you must bring a burrow-friendly substrate for them.

There are lots of substrate options for your baby Pacman frog.

 Such as-

• Coconut fiber: My recommendation Zoo Med Eco Earth Coconut Fiber
• Sphagnum moss bedding: My recommendation Zilla Moss Bedding
• Coconut husks
• Tree bark
• Leaf litter
• Soil
• Mixed substrate

Choose such a substrate that retains moisture well to promote high humidity levels. Moreover, there must not be any sharp edges that may hurt your baby Pacman frog.

How Deep Should Baby Pacman Frog Substrate Be?

Pacman frogs of all ages love to burrow and hide for several reasons. They can burrow up to 5 inches deep. Hence, their substrate should be thick enough to encourage them to bury themselves.

Many experienced Pacman frog keepers suggest making the substrate 4-6 inches deep.

If the substrate isn’t deep enough, your baby Pacman frog won’t be comfortable burrowing in the substrate. Besides, clean the baby Pacman frog substrate regularly.

Ideal Lighting Requirements For Pacman Frog

As your baby Pacman frog is caged now, you need to mimic the day and night. For this, natural sunlight is enough. Place the terrarium nearby a window so that your baby frog can get 12 hours of daylight.

On the other hand, there are debates about using a UVB light for your Pacman frog.

Ideal Temperature Range For Pacman Frog

The need for heat for a baby Pacman frog is slightly different from an adult Pacman frog.

The required temperature for your baby Pacman frog is about 77-82 degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime. At night time, 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit will be perfect.

But, make sure that the temperature should not go down below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. When the temperature gets colder than the required range, your baby Pacman frog can go into estivation.

Not to mention, the thermometer will help you notice or monitor the temperature of the terrarium.

With this Exo Terra Combometer, you can measure both the temperature and the humidity inside the pacman frog habitat. It shows the measurement in digital output, so very easy to read. I’ll highly recommend keeping this one in your arsenal, doesn’t matter what amphibian or reptile you are keeping!

Do Pacman Frogs Need Heat?

If we compare baby Pacman frogs with adult ones, baby Pacman frogs need more heat than adult Pacman frogs.

If the baby Pacman frog terrarium is about 10-20 gallons, the required heat mat size will be 15×20 cm (6 x 8 inches).

There are several options available for keeping warm a baby Pacman frog terrarium. Such as-

• Heat mats / Under tank heaters / Heating Pad
• Ceramic heat emitters
• Heat lamps (But, many experienced frog keepers gave negative recommendations about this)

You should monitor with the thermometer often to check if the temperature or heat is going very high or low from the ideal range.

Proper Humidity Level For Pacman Frog

You must have known that Pacman frogs thrive in high humidity. To ensure the sound health of your baby Pacman frog, you must confirm the ideal humidity in the terrarium.

The ideal humidity range for a baby Pacman frog is between 60% – 80%.

Keep a digital hygrometer to monitor the humidity so that it can’t go below 60%.

How Do You Keep A Baby Pacman Frog Tank Humid?

For ensuring a perfect humidity range, there are several options for you. Let’s check out how you can keep the terrarium humid.

1. Keeping a shallow water bowl with fresh, clean water
2. Misting every component of the baby Pacman frog terrarium
3. Keeping absorbing substrate, or bedding, and decorations
4. Making the substrate moist (Make sure that the substrate must not be water-dripping wet)
5. Frogging device usage
6. Keeping a humidifier in the room where you keep the baby Pacman frog terrarium.

Décor Items For Pacman Frogs

Decorations of your baby Pacman frog tank should be completely natural. You can add branches, leaves, stones, logs, etc. Choose such décor stuff that will help your baby Pacman frog hide, play, and burrow.

But, keep in mind that none of these things have risks to injure your baby frog.

Baby Pacman Frog Diet And Supplement

According to different growth stages, the need for foods and supplements is different for a Pacman frog. On the other hand, a baby Pacman frog grows fast. Hence, your baby frog needs varieties of nutrition to build up the body tissues and bones well.

So, the diet of a baby Pacman frog is pretty different than the diet of an adult Pacman frog.

What Do You Feed A Baby Pacman Frog?

As new owners, people often wonder if they can feed the same foods of an adult Pacman frog to their baby frog.

In the list of baby Pacman frog’s diet, you can include crickets, nightcrawlers, locusts, wax worms, mealworms, earthworms, silkworms, dubia roaches, etc.

But, you’ve to keep in mind that these food items should be neither too small nor too big. Choose an appropriate diet for your baby Pacman frog adjusting with the frog’s weight and size.

Feeding too large crickets or other insects can cause many digestive issues. Again, if you give too small live frog diets continuously, this is harmful to your baby Pacman frog’s health too.

In case you do not understand whether these items are being too small or not, there’s a general rule of thumb for you. Notice the length or distance between the eyes of your frog. Then, offer such food of the same size.

Regarding nightcrawlers and varieties of worms, you can cut them into small pieces. Many experienced owners suggested cutting them into 1.5-2 inch pieces.

On the other hand, you should consider the occasional food diet as their junk food such as wax worms, mealworms, etc. You can offer these one or two a week because of containing high fats.

Let’s check out the following chart regarding the food diet of baby Pacman frog.

Baby Pacman Frog Diet Chart

Staple Foods	Semi-regular Foods	Weekly Treats	Forbidden Food Items Until Your Baby Pacman Frog Gets Adult
Crickets (Josh’s Live Crickets)	Silk Worms (Small Silkworm Pod)	Mealworms	Rodents
Locusts	Earthworms	Waxworms	Shrimp
Dubia Roaches	Superworms	Butterworms	Smaller frogs
Nightcrawlers (Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm )	Hornworms	Platies	Lizards
Locusts	Molly fish (small size)		Crab legs
Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Black Soldier Fly Larvae)	Guppies

How Many Crickets Should I Feed My Baby Pacman Frog?

There is no rule of feeding a specific number of crickets to your baby Pacman frog.

You can give your baby Pacman frogs 5-6 crickets at each feeding. But, keep in mind that their size must be accurate.

If you’re wondering about their size, ½ – ¾ inch crickets will be suitable for your baby Pacman frog. Again, it’ll be better if you remove the cricket head before feeding to your frog.

Because their exoskeleton is too hard to digest for the baby Pacman frogs.

Dietary Supplements For Baby Pacman Frogs

Without supplements, the diet list remains incomplete. If you want your baby frog to have sound health, you must ensure proper vitamins and other nutrition.

Many Pacman frogs die at an early age suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease. Lack of calcium causes this life-risky disease of Pacman frogs.

Another important point to make sure of is that the calcium supplement contains vitamin D3. The frog body can’t absorb only calcium supplementation without vitamin D3.  Also, the supplement has to be phosphorus-free.

Pacman Frog Feeding Schedule

I’ve made a daily supplement list for your baby Pacman frog, following the instructions of veterinarians and experienced owners. You can also prepare the list in your way.

Let’s take this sample list first.

Days	Supplementation
Sunday	Calcium with vitamin D3 at each feeding
Monday	Off feeding day
Tuesday	Vitamins
Wednesday	Off feeding day
Thursday	Calcium with vitamin D3 each time
Friday	Off feeding day
Saturday	Off feeding day

Besides, the experienced owners suggested not to use commercial gut loads because these can cause toxicity. Moreover, you can give pigment supplementation with one meal per month.

(Exo Terra makes a fantastic multi-vitamin powder for amphibians and reptiles. You can check it out here on Amazon.)

How Often Do I Feed A Baby Pacman Frog?

There are different opinions about feeding frequency.

Some experienced owners suggest feeding your baby Pacman frog every second day. On the other hand, some experienced owners recommend feeding daily. A baby frog tends to have more appetite than an adult Pacman frog.

But, you can decide after observing your baby Pacman frog and its food habit. Also, the quantity of food depends on their interest.

You can offer your baby Pacman frog as much as food he can finish in 15-20 minutes.  Besides, your baby frog will stop eating when he gets full.

How Long Can A Baby Pacman Frog Go Without Eating?

A new baby Pacman frog needs time to adjust to a new place. So, it’s completely okay, in case your new baby Pacman frog doesn’t want to eat anything at first. So, a few nights without food won’t cause any big harm to your baby Pacman frog.

It’s pretty normal not to eat for several days or a week for a new baby Pacman frog due to environmental changes.

But, you should keep offering food to your baby frog. When he gets comfortable in his new habitat, he’ll start eating on his own.

Why Is My Baby Pacman Frog Not Eating?

Several factors can be responsible for this. I’ve pointed out a few points. Check them out to find out the probable reasons why your baby Pacman frog is not eating.

• Not being comfortable in the new place
• High or low temperature than ideal range
• Low humidity
• Wrong substrate
• Too large foods
• Hibernation
• Impaction
• Sickness
• Unhygienic living conditions 

Whatever the reason for not eating, you need to find out the actual reason. Then, take immediate action as soon as possible.

What To Do If My Baby Pacman Frog Doesn’t Eat?

Who doesn’t know that Pacman frogs are ferocious eaters? So, it’ll be surprising and concerning if your baby Pacman frog doesn’t eat.

Hence, I’ve collected some suggestions from experienced Pacman frog owners about this. Let’s check them out.

1. Feed your baby Pacman frog at night instead of daytime. As Pacman frogs are nocturnal, they remain active at night.
2. If your baby Pacman frog isn’t accepting foods from hand-feeding, switch to tong feeding.
3. You can introduce your baby frog to natural hunting by leaving live foods in the tank.
4. If your baby Pacman frog doesn’t show interest to live foods, you can try dry foods.
5. Use a separate container for feeding. It also reduces the risk of impaction.
6. Cover the sides of the terrarium of your baby Pacman frog.
7. The supplement can cause the distaste of your baby Pacman frog. You can try another one.
8. The last option is force-feeding.

How Do You Force Feed A Baby Pacman Frog?

Consider force-feeding as the last option of all. If nothing works, then you can go for force-feeding. It’ll be better to take help from another person in this.

If another person grabs the baby Pacman frog, you can gently push the food into the frog’s mouth. There are great chances of splitting the food in case of force-feeding.

You just need to keep persistence. Be aware of not hurting your frog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my new pacman frog not eating?

There could be several reasons why a new pacman frog is not eating. One reason could be that the frog is not hungry yet, as adult Pacman frogs typically feed once or twice a week.

Another reason could be that the temperature and humidity levels in the enclosure are not optimal.

It is also possible that the frog is stressed from being handled or moved into a new environment.

Finally, if the frog is a baby, it may need to be moved to a larger enclosure soon. 

How do I know if my baby Pacman frog is healthy?

There are several signs that can indicate whether a baby Pacman frog is healthy. One sign is a healthy appetite, as Pacman frogs are typically ferocious eaters.

Another sign is the frog’s overall appearance, which should be plump and free of any visible injuries or abnormalities.

Additionally, the frog’s skin should be moist and free of any dry patches.

Finally, the frog should be active and responsive, exhibiting normal behaviors such as burrowing and exploring its enclosure.

Final Words

Undoubtedly, taking good care of baby Pacman frog is not an easy task. Ensuring a good diet is also hard. But, I hope this article helped you get a good idea about baby Pacman frog care and feeding guide.